Adapter element for an extendable shore



' Oct. 10, 1967 squm 3,346,283

ADAPTER ELEMENT FOR AN EXTENDABLE SHORE Original Filed June so, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV EN TOR. 20 5:2716 590/16 3? M fiazfi lflezm,

Oct. 10, 1967 R. K. SQUIRE 3,346,283

ADAPTER ELEMENT FOR AN EXTENDABLE SHORE Orig inal Filed June 30. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 flrraewsys United States Patent 3,346,283 ADAPTER ELEMENT FOR AN EXTENDABLE SHORE Robert K. Squire, Los Angeles, Calif., assiguor to Superior Scaffold Co., Torrance, Calif., a corporation of California Griginal application June 30, 1961, Ser. No. 120,985, now Patent No. 3,199,405, dated June 22, 1965. Divided and this application lHar. 12, 1965, Ser. No. 439,228

Claims. (Cl. 287-54) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An extendable shoring scaffold having upper extension frames telescoping in base frames to vary the height of the scaffold and including crosss-bracing connected from the upper ends of the extension frames to the base frames through adapter pins adjustably mounted in the base frames and carrying the weight of the extension frames. The lower connections of the cross-bracing are to tie pins on adapter elements which include the adapter pins supporting the extension frames.

The present invention relates to adapter elements for adjustably supporting the extension frames of extendable shores and shoring scaffolds and this application is a division of my co-pending application Ser. No. 120,985, filed June 30, 1961 now Patent No. 3,190,405 for Extendable Shore.

A weakness of known extendable shores or shoring scaffolds is that the further they are extended the smaller the load they will carry, and prior to the present invention and that claimed in the parent application, no simple method of adequately bracing the extensions had been devised. Telescoping of the legs of an extension frame inside or outside of the legs of a base frame to get varied heights is not basically new, but such adjustable telescoping has in the past required complicated bracing of the extension frame or else the load bearing capacity of the shoring scaffold progressively decreased as the shore was extended. According to the invention claimed in the parent application, cross bracing is installed between the extension frames and the base frames of the shoring scaffold, with the connection of the braces to the base frames being effected through adapter pins adjustably mounted in the base frames and carrying the weight of the extension frames and the load supported by the shoring scaffold. This construction serves to rigidity the shoring scaffold and to increase the load bearing capacity thereof in extended position, while at the same time providing for faster setups and lower labor costs.

The object of the present invention is to provide adapter elements for such extendable shores which include the adapter pins supporting the extension frames and the pins to which cross braces are connected.

A more general object of this invention is the provision of improved extension frame supporting and cross brace connecting elements for extendable shores.

These and other objects and features of this invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following specification and the appended drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a shore or shoring scaffold in which the elements of the present invention are used;

FIGURE 2 is a detail sectional view of a screw jack used with the shoring scaffold of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a detail view of the junction between two base frames of the scaffold, broken away to show the coupling pin therebetween;

3,346,283 Patented Oct. 10, 1967 FIGURE 3a is a detail sectional view on the line 3a of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of an adapter element according to the present invention mounting the adapter and tie pins;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of the joint between the legs of the base and extension frames;

FIGURE 6 is a transverse sectional view on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a view similar to FIGURE 5 showing a modified form of extension leg mounting with the adapter pin passing therethrough; and

FIGURE 8 is a transverse sectional view, similar to FIGURE 6, but showing a modified form of adapter element according to the present invention in which the adapter pin and aligned tie pin are connected together and are separable from the adapter element.

The shoring scafflod 11 of FIGURE 1 is illustrated as made up of two pairs of base frames 12-13 and 14-15. Mounted in and above the base frames 12-13, with their legs telescopically interengaged, are extension frames 16-17. Screw jacks 18 are provided at the bottom of the base frames 14-15 for leveling of the frames and the shoring scaffold, While screw jacks 19 are provided at the top of the extension frames 16-17 for fine adjustment of the head of the shoring scaffold.

The base frames 12-15 are identical in construction, each comprising a pair of horizontally spaced, vertical legs 21 and 22 having a pair of horizontal struts 23-24 rigidly connected thereto adjacent their opposite ends, as by welding. Cross struts 25-26 are rigidly secured, as by welding, to the vertical legs 21-22 intermediate the horizontal struts 23-24, and the cross struts are welded together at their cross point 27. A horizontal rigidifying strut 28 interconnects the cross struts 25-26.

The vertical legs 21-22 are provided with spaced through holes 29 along their length for the reception of adapter pins to adjustably support the legs of an extension frame. The axes of the holes 29 are parallel to the plane of the base frame. Through holes 31 are provided adjacent the opposite ends of the legs 21-22 with the axes of the holes 31 extending at right angles to the plane of the base frame.

Two pairs of base frames are shown in FIGURE 1, and it will be readily apparent that this number may vary from one pair to any desired number of pairs of superposed base frames which may be required to reach the desired shoring height. The superposed base frames are connected together in the manner shown in FIGURES 3 and 3a of the drawings. A coupling pin 32, having a cross-shaped body portion with the width of the legs of the cross substantially equal to the interior diameter of the tubular legs 21, is received within the adjacent ends of the legs. A central disc 33, having a diameter greater than the internal diameter of the legs, properly locates the coupling pin with respect to each leg of the base frame. The ends of the coupling pin 32 are" provided with holes 34 which align with the holes 31 in the legs 21 and through the openings 31, 34 are disposed bolts 35 serving to connect the adjacent ends of the legs of the base frames together through the coupling pin 32.

Each of the base frames 12-15 is provided with four tie pins 30 mounted in opposed relation adjacent the opposite ends of the legs 21-22, upon the mutually facing surfaces of the legs. The pins 30 are butt welded to the surfaces of the legs 21-22 and have transverse openings therein adjacent their ends for the reception of nails or cotter pins to hold the cross braces thereon.

For each pair of base frames 12-15 there are provided a pair of front cross braces 43 and 44 and a pair of rear cross braces 45 and 46. The cross braces 43-46 are provided with flat end portions 47 having openings 48 therethrough in which are received the pins 30. The cross braces extend from the lower pins 30 on one frame of each pair of horizontally spaced frames to the upper pins 30 on the opposite frame of the pair.

Each of the extension frames 16-17 comprises a pair of vertical legs 36-37 joined together adjacent their upper ends by a pair of vertically spaced horizontal struts 38 and 39 welded at their opposite ends to the legs 36-37. Angular struts 41 and 42 interconnect the horizontal struts 38 and 39 to strengthen the extension frames 16-17. The exterior diameter of the legs 36-37 is slightly less than the interior diameter of the legs 21-22 so that the lower ends of the legs 36-37 may be telescopic-ally received within the upper ends of the adjacent legs 21-22 of the base frame.

An adapter element according to the present invention for adjustably supporting the extension frame and its relation to the legs 36-37 and 21-22 is more particularly shown in FIGURES 4 through 6. The adapter element is indicated generally at 51 as comprising an adapter pin 52 butt welded at one end to the inner face of the leg 53 of an L-shaped bracket 54. The adapter pin 52 has a transverse hole 55 adjacent its free end for the reception of a retaining nail or cotter pin. On the outer face of the leg 53 is butt welded a tie pin 56. On the outer face of the base leg 57 of the L-shaped bracket 54 is butt welded a tie pin 58, the tie pins having vertical holes adjacent their ends for the reception of retaining nails of cotter pins.

FIGURES and 6 show the adapter element 51 in position supporting the end of the leg 36. The adapter pin 52 extends through the selected hole 29 through the tubular leg 21 of the base frame, and is retained in inserted position by a cotter pin 59 extending through the hole 55. The lower end of the leg 36 is received within the upper end of the leg 21 in telescoping relation, with the bottom of the leg 36 bearing against the pin 52 which thus supports the extension frames 16-17 and the load carried thereby.

The frames 16-17 are provided with tie pins adjacent the upper ends of the legs 36 and 37 as at 61 and 62. These pins are butt welded to the exterior surfaces of the legs 36-37, pins 61 extending outwardly toward the front and back of the scaffold in the plane of the frames 16-17, and the pins 62 extending outwardly from the ends of the scaffold at right angles to the plane of the frames 16-17.

At the front on the scaffold 11 a pair of cross braces 63-64 interconnect the pins 61 on the frames 16-17, and the pins 56 on the adapter elements 51. At the back of the scaffold cross braces 65-66 interconnect the pins 61 on the extension frames 16-17 and the tie pins 56 on the adapter elements 51. End cross braces 67 and 68 interconnect the pins 62 on the extension frames 16-17 with the tie pins 58 on the adapter elements 51. By means of the cross brace system 63-68 the extension frames 16-17 are braced with respect to the base frames 12-15 through the adapter elements 51 and the adapter pins 52 which connect to the legs 21-22 of the base frames through the holes 29. It will be readily understood that the height of the extension frames 16-17 above the adjacent base frames 12-13 will be determined by the level of the holes 29 in which the adapter pins 52 are placed. The lower the holes selected, the greater will be the telescoping of the complementary legs on the extension and base frames and the lower the shoring height.

The jacks 18 and 19 are shown in section in FIGURE 2 as comprising a baseplate 71, which in inverted position becomes the shoring head, having a central boss 72 thereon provided with a bore 73. The bore 73 has a spherical end wall 74 against which is received a knob 75 welded or forged on the end of a threaded rod 76. The rod 76 has an exterior diameter of an order to be received within the interior diameters of both the legs 21-22 and 36-37. On the rod 76 is threaded a load supporting nut 77 having operating handles 78. The bore 73 is provided with recesses 79 in which are received lugs 81 on the knob 75 to provide for limited pivotal movement between the baseplate or head 71 and the rod 76. The knob is maintained within the bore 73 by a snap ring 82.

In setting up the shoring scafford 11 shown in FIGURE 1, the base frames 14-15 are first mounted on the jacks 18 and interconnected by the cross braces 43-46, thus forming a self-supporting structure. The coupling pins 32 are then inserted in the upper ends of the legs 21-22 of the frames 14-15, and the upper base frames 12-13 mounted over the pins 32 and additional cross braces 43-46 applied to the base frames 12-13, thus adding a second level to the scaffolding. Bolts 35 may be passed through holes 31 and 34 to securely lock the upper level base frames to the lower level frames.

The adapter elements 51 are now mounted on the legs 21-22 of the upper level of the base frames 12-13 by inserting the adapter pins 52 through the holes 29 at a level selected to give the desired shoring height. The extension frames 16-17 are now mounted on the upper base frames by inserting the legs 36-37 into the legs 21-22 of the upper base frames, with the ends of the legs 36-37 engaging the adapter pins 52. Cross braces 63-66 are now assembled to interconnect the tie pins 61 on the extension frames with the tie pins 56 on the adapter elements 51. Lastly, jacks 19 may be assembled by inserting their rods 76 into the upper ends of the legs 36-37 and the shoring scaffold is completed. This shoring scaffold may support any desired load thereon, a simple platform being indicated at 35 in FIGURE 1.

In the modification of FIGURE 7, the lower ends of the legs 36-37 are provided with through holes 86 complementary to the holes 29 and the adapter pin 52 extends through both the holes 29 and 86 so that the extension and base frames are tied together in both directions and the base frame will lift with the extension frame in the event the latter is raised.

The modified adapter element 91, according to the present invention, is shown in FIGURE 8 as having an adapter pin 92 extending freely through an opening through the leg 93 of an L-shaped bracket 94. A tie pin 96, aligned with the adapter pin 92, has an integral head 95 to the face of which the pin 92 is butt welded. The pins 92 and 96 thus form a unitary member which is separable from the L-shaped bracket 94. A tie pin 98 is butt welded to the outer face of the leg 97 of the L-shaped bracket 94. The adapter element 91 of FIGURE 8 functions, after assembly, the same as the adapter elements 51 of FIG- URE 6, but in readjusting the adapter element 91 relative to the legs 21-22 of the base frame to select a different hole 29 and a different level of support the adapter elements and the extension frames may be moved to another location without removing the cross braces from the tie pins 96 and 98 which are separated by the withdrawal of the pin 92 from the opening 90.

While certain preferred embodiments of this invention have been illustrated and described, it will be understood that the invention is not limited thereto as many variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the invention is to be given its broadest interpretation within the terms of the following claims.

I claim:

1. An adapter element for adjustably supporting an extension frame on a base frame in a shoring scaffold and for connecting to cross bracing extending between said frames, comprising: a generally L-shaped bracket, each leg of which has an inside and outside planar face adapted to be mounted with the leg of the brace frame disposed within its interior angle; an adapter pin extending from the inside face of one leg of said bracket and at substantially right angles thereto, said adapter pin being adjustably extendable through complementary openings at different levels along the height of the base frame leg, said adapter pin being engaged by the extension frame to directly support it and solely serving to transfer its load to the base frame leg and tie pins secured to and extending from the outside faces of both legs of said bracket and at substantially right angles thereto for the attachment of cross braces thereto extending between the frames.

2. An adapter element for adjustably supporting an extension frame on a base frame in a shoring scaffold and for connecting to cross bracing extending between said frames, comprising: an L-shaped bracket, each leg of which has an inside and outside planar surface; an adapter pin secured to and extending from the inside face of one leg of said bracket and at right angles thereto; and a tie pin secured to and extending from the outside face of each of the legs of said bracket and at right angles thereto.

3. An adapter element for adjustably supporting an extension frame on a base frame in a shoring scaffold and for connecting to cross bracing extending between said frames, comprising: an L-shaped bracket, each leg of which has an inside and outside planar surface; an adapter pin secured to and extending from the inside face of one leg of said bracket and at right angles thereto; a tie pin secured to and extending from the outside face of each of the legs of said bracket and at right angles thereto; means on said adapter pin for interlocking it with the base frame; and means on said tie pins for locking the cross braces thereon.

4. An adapter element for supporting an extension frame on a base frame in a shoring scaffold and for connecting to cross bracing extending between said frames, comprising: an L-shaped bracket; an adapter pin extending from the inside face of one leg of said bracket and at right angles thereto; and tie pins extending from the outside faces of the legs of said bracket and at right angles thereto, all of said pins being butt welded to the faces of the bracket legs from which they extend.

5. An adapter element for adjustably supporting an extension frame on a base frame in a shoring scaffold and for connecting to cross bracing extending between said frames, comprising: an L-shaped bracket; an adapter pin extending from the inside face of one leg of said bracket and at right angles thereto, said adapter pin being adjustably insertable through complementary openings at different levels along the height of the base frame and being engaged by the extension frame to directly support it and solely serving to transfer its load to the base frame; and tie pins extending from the outside faces of the legs of said bracket and at right angles thereto, the adapter pin and the tie pin extending from the same leg of the bracket being joined together into a unitary structure and extending through a clearance hole in the leg of the bracket from which they extend and the other tie pin secured to the outside face of its respective leg.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,552,333 9/1925 Mosher 52-721 1,808,080 6/1931 Smith 52646 1,853,086 4/ 1932 Scannell 52638 FOREIGN PATENTS 801,537 4/1951 Germany.

CARL W. TOMLIN, Primary Examiner.

A. V. KUNDKAT, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN ADAPTER ELEMENT FOR ADJUSTABLY SUPPORTING AN EXTENSION FRAME ON A BASE FRAME IN A SHORING SCAFFOLD AND FOR CONNECTING TO CROSS BRACING EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID FRAMES, COMPRISING: A GENERALLY L-SHPAED BRACKET, EACH LEG OF WHICH HAS AN INSIDE AND OUTSIDE PALANR FACE ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED WITH THE LEG OF THE BRACE FRAME DISPOSED WITHIN ITS INTERIOR ANGLE; AN ADAPTER PIN EXTENDING FROM THE INSIDE FACE OF ONE LEG OF SAID BRACKET AND AT SUBSTANTIALLY RIGHT ANGLES THERETO, SAID ADAPTER PIN BEING ADJUSTABLY EXTENDABLE THROUGH COMPLEMENTARY OPENING AT DIFFERENT LEVELS ALONG THE HEIGHT OF THE BASE FRAME LEG, SAID ADAPTER PIN BEING ENGAGED BY THE EXTENSION FROM THE DIRECTLY SUPPORT IT AND SOLELY SERVING TO TRANSFER ITS LOAD TO THE BASE FRAME LEG AND TIE PINS SECURED TO AND EXTENDING FROM THE OUTSIDE FACES OF BOTH LEGS OF SAID BRACKET AND AT SUBSTANTIALLY RIGHT ANGLES THERETO FOR THE ATTACHMENT OF CROSS BRACES THERETO EXTENDING BETWEEN THE FRAMES. 